New LDS apostle is European, cares about the environment and knows a lot about the faith’s finances

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé on Thursday as its newest apostle, a Frenchman known for his ecclesiastical oversight of the faith’s financial empire and his support of Earth stewardship and sustainability.

Born in Bordeaux, the 62-year-old Caussé was the church’s 15th presiding bishop, in charge of shepherding the church’s real estate, financial, investment and humanitarian operations since October 2015. He was the third presiding bishop born outside the United States and the first for whom English is a second language.

A news release reports that Caussé was called to his new lifetime post Thursday and ordained the same day by new church President Dallin H. Oaks, and the other members of the governing First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Caussé’s elevation now becomes the most significant development of Oaks’ 3-week-old tenure as the church’s 18th president.

Caussé joins two other European apostles: Dieter F. Uchtdorf of Germany and Patrick Kearon of Britain.

“I’ve always had a testimony of Jesus Christ,” Caussé said in the Thursday release. “He’s always been in the center of my life. I know Jesus Christ lives. And I know he’s our Savior and Redeemer. What a wonderful thing it is to be a witness of Christ. That’s the best responsibility or stewardship we might have in our lives.”

The church’s moneyman

Caussé has also been the point man on the church’s vast financial holdings, which have made headlines in recent years.

The global faith enjoys prosperity due to the sacrificial giving by multiple generations of devout members, he explained in 2018, along with adherence to sound, spiritually informed financial principles from Latter-day Saint leaders.

“This abundance of temporal blessings was built upon the painful physical and financial trials that punctuated the first decades of church growth,” he said, noting that members are taught to “practice provident living, live within their means, avoid unnecessary debt, and prepare for the future.”

The church’s main investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, has a publicly reported portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds and mutual funds valued at $58.4 billion as of June. In-depth independent analysis, according to The Widow’s Mite Report, indicates Ensign Peak and a host of third-party funds manage total investments on behalf of the worldwide faith worth about $206 billion as of the end of last year.

Widow’s Mite also projects the Utah-based faith could be worth $1 trillion sometime after 2040.

“We have a vision of the church that is — can I use the word grandiose?” Caussé told The Wall Street Journal in 2023, Because we believe the gospel has to be taken to all the world. And so we see the size of the church [with 17.5 million members] multiple times what it is now, in the future.”

A ‘green’ apostle?

Also that year, Caussé outlined six major sustainability priorities at a conference in Brazil that included: using renewable resources, conserving water, avoiding material waste, improving air quality, practicing sustainable designs, and engaging in sustainable farming practices.

In a 2022 General Conference address, the environmentally conscious leader called on Latter-day Saints to protect the planet’s precious resources.

“The care of the Earth and of our natural environment is a sacred responsibility entrusted to us by God, which should fill us with a deep sense of duty and humility,” Caussé said. “It is also an integral component of our discipleship. How can we honor and love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ without honoring and loving their creations?”

Brigham Young University ecology professor Ben Abbott said statements like these point to an underlying theology very much concerned with the physical realm.

“His leadership managing the worldly affairs of the church,” Abbott observed, “demonstrates his commitment to the gospel — that, actually, the way we treat each other and the natural world around us and other life is a reflection of our discipleship.”

His professional and personal background

Before his call as a general authority Seventy, Caussé worked in the food industry, with several supermarket chains and food distribution companies, according to the church website. He was the general manager of Pomona, a major food distribution company in France.

The newest apostle is a second-generation Latter-day Saint. He moved to Paris when he was 19, where he began dating Valérie Babin, who had also been reared in the faith. They married Aug. 5, 1986, in the faith’s Bern Switzerland Temple and are the parents of five children.

After joining the ranks of high-level church leadership in 2008, the couple had to move to Germany and then, as a member of the Presiding Bishopric, to the United States.

So much moving was hard on the Caussé children.

“That was not an easy thing to do,” he said in the release. “We admire them for being so consecrated. They never complained. They moved with us and changed life. And those who stayed in France, we admire them for not having their parents nearby for, now, 17 years.”

One of them “told us she cried every night,” Valérie Caussé said, “but she didn’t tell us anything besides encouragement. We’re so proud of them.”

Reactions to his appointment

Utah historian Ardis Parshall spoke glowingly of the Caussé pick on social media.

“He interviewed me once upon a time about the first Latter-day Saint and family in Madagascar,” Parshall wrote. “Such a loving, kind, intelligent man. So happy about this development.”

Some had hoped that the apostle choice would be more diverse (perhaps an African or African American) but, over and over, those interviewed about Caussé’s new assignment stressed his ability to meet people where they are, be they members around the world or those with no faith background at all.

“Coming from France, he understands well communities shaped by secularism,” religious studies doctoral student Vinna Chowriamah said. “I believe he’ll be an effective bridge builder with those who don’t see religion as part of their identity.”

The fact that he speaks French is an asset, too, the Latter-day Saint convert emphasized, especially at a time when church growth is soaring in parts of Africa, home to many French speakers.

Latter-day Saint legal scholar Sam Brunson saw this skill in action in a wholly different context several years ago while attending an academic conference co-sponsored by BYU and the church history department.

“I confess,” he said, “that I usually cringe when I hear an LDS Church leader speak at an academic conference. The modes of speaking are just different” than when giving sermons.

Caussé clearly intuited this, however, delivering a speech that fit the moment perfectly, Brunson thought. The Frenchman knows how to “code-switch,” a skill Brunson believes will serve him well as he goes forth as a global ambassador for the faith.

The apostle vacancy was created by the death of 101-year-old church President Russell M. Nelson on Sept. 27 and the rise of apostle D. Todd Christofferson to the First Presidency.

Latter-day Saint apostles are “special witnesses of the name of Christ throughout the world,” the church’s release explains. “They also engage in significant administrative responsibilities, overseeing the operation and development of a global faith.”

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the second-highest presiding body in the church — after the First Presidency — and its members serve for life. The longest-serving apostle becomes the prophet-president — which means Caussé could one day be in that seat.